SICKLE-CELL GENE IN CENTRAL INDIA - KINSHIP AND GEOGRAPHY

A wide range of variation (0.00-0.14) in the frequencies of the HbS al lele has been observed among 16 tribes of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. A significant excess of SS individuals over that expected under Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was observed among 6 of 16 populatio ns. These populations belong to three linguistic groups and have histo ry of heterogeneous origins. A geographical dine of increase in HbS al lele frequency from east to west is apparent. This pattern can largely be explained by differential migration. The kinship coefficient (r(ij )) and paired F-ST do not show any significant correlation up to 250 k m of geographical distance but beyond this distance they show an inver se relationship with increasing geographic distance. Hemoglobin levels between individuals with PS allele and with normal HbA individuals do not differ in these populations. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.